The Penn State men's basketball team was its own toughest opponent in the first half of Saturday's game against Div. I Northeast Conference (NEC) Sacred Heart University.

The Nittany Lions shot a scrappy 25 percent from the field and missed 12 lay-ups before trailing Sacred Heart (1-3) by a point at the half. But Penn State (3-2) responded to a 29-point first-half performance by scoring 40 points and shooting 41 percent from the field in the second half to capture a 69-61 win against the Pioneers.

"We shot 33 percent [from the field for the game]," Sacred Heart coach Dave Bike said. "We were fortunate they shot 31 percent because they kept us in the game."

Penn State opened the game with two quick 3-pointers by freshman guard Mike Walker and freshman forward Geary Claxton. The Lions shot 32 percent from behind the arc, while Walker hit 4-of-7 3-pointers. Six of freshman guard Danny Morrissey's 11 points came off 3-pointers.

"If our young kids don't play, it's gonna be a struggle for us because offensively our young kids have got to do some things for us and that's Mike Walker, Geary and Danny because that's the perimeter," Penn State coach Ed DeChellis said.

"We need Marlon [Smith] to make some shots and get something for us offensively."

Despite shooting just 3-of-13 from the field, Smith recorded 11 points and dished out five assists.

In 35 minutes of play, Walker scored 15 points, a second-best showing to forward Aaron Johnson's 18.

Johnson's 20 rebounds earned him his fourth double-double in five games this season. Four other Lions grabbed at least four rebounds, complementing Johnson's usual mopping duties underneath.

"My goal was to get 20 rebounds, so I just kept missing [the shots]," Johnson said jokingly.

Bike tweaked Sacred Heart's original starting lineup with intentions of taking advantage of Penn State's three-guard strategy and not-so-savvy post-play. He started 7-foot-2 center Mading Mading, who averages just eight minutes a game. The Lions held Mading to two points and five rebounds in 13 minutes of play, thanks to Penn State's most prominent post player.

"The bigger they are, the harder they fall," Johnson said.

"I want to face 7-footers everyday if I could."

In a game that saw two ties and six lead changes, with Penn State ahead for the majority of the game, the Lions couldn't pull away. Penn State created its largest lead of the game with a 57-44 advantage at the eight-minute mark of the second half. The Pioneers cut the lead to six with under three minutes remaining, but the Lions sealed the win after converting 10-of-16 free throws in the final minutes.

"Every time we got a cushion, then we miss a lay-up up and we coulda been up 15 with seven and a half to go," DeChellis said.

"We kind of just shoot ourselves in the foot constantly."